The NBA continues Saturday with this interconference matchup! It's time to continue our NBA odds series with a Celtics-Pelicans prediction and pick.

The Boston Celtics are coming off a bad loss last night to the surging Atlanta Hawks. Atlanta did this same thing last year, start out slow and make a run toward the middle of the season. The Celtics felt that last night and there wasn't much they could do. Jayson Tatum did not play well to start the game and as a result, they found themselves behind the entire game. Tatum shot just 5-17 and finished with 20 points. Boston is now back to even at (25-25) which puts them 8th in the Eastern Conference.

The New Orleans Pelicans are (18-30) on the year and are coming off a loss to the Denver Nuggets. These two teams met just over a week ago where the Celtics won 104-92 in Boston. The Celtics erased an 18-point deficit to come back and defeat the Pelicans and so this should once again be a good matchup.

Here are the Celtics-Pelicans NBA odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

NBA Odds: Celtics-Pelicans Odds

Boston Celtics: -5 (-110)

New Orleans Pelicans: +5 (-110)

Over: 213.5 (-110)

Under: 213.5 (-110)

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Why The Celtics Could Cover The Spread

The Celtics are coming off of a bad performance. It's crazy how inconsistent this team is and in fact, it doesn't make much sense. Boston blew out the Sacramento Kings by 53 points the game prior. 53 points is just an unheard-of margin of victory, just for them to come out the following game and put up 92 points against the Atlanta Hawks. The Celtics scored 36 fewer points than they did against a team that actually is starting to play well right now. Boston just needs to find a way to play the same style of basketball each game and they are not.

The Pelicans are depleted right now. They do not have many threats on the offensive end which explains their last two losses. Despite losing, they found ways to stay in the game so the Celtics must be aware that this won't be as easy as they think it will be. Brandon Ingram is currently out with an ankle injury as he did not play against the 76ers or the Nuggets. Jonas Valanciunas is also out with an illness so the Celtics need to take advantage of those absences.

Why The Pelicans Could Cover The Spread

New Orleans needs to defend Tatum and Jaylen Brown and they will have a chance. Those two are the pillars that hold the Celtics together and if you disrupt one, then you have a chance to win every time. With the Pelicans' three best players not playing tonight, then it's going to take an all-out effort from the rest of the squad to try and keep things close at home. They come in as underdogs which is the clear right call, but the margin isn't very high. If they want to cover this spread it will have to be a close game until the end. Both teams are coming off a back-to-back so there will be some fatigue out there. The Pelicans just signed Wenyen Gabriel to a 10-day hardship contract to give them added depth for tonight's game.

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Final Celtics-Pelicans Prediction & Pick

Boston has to win this game right? They are clearly the better than and without all those players for New Orleans, I'm just not sure how the Pelicans will cover this spread. Take the Celtics and hope Boston can find a way to play consistent basketball.

Final Celtics-Pelicans Prediction & Pick: Celtics -5 (-110)